Using nvm, we can install multiple, self-contained versions of Node.js, which will allow us to control our environment, and get access to the newest versions of Node.js, but will also allow us to keep previous releases that our applications may depend on. (nvm is just like Virtualenv in Python, if you are familiar with it, which allows us to install multiple version of the same Python library into “virtual folders” by pip.)

This is the method we will cover later in this tutorial.

Method #2: Install the bundled Distro-Stable Version Node.js (version 4.2.6) – it is very simple to install, just one or two commands.

Ubuntu 16.04 contains a version of Node.js in its default repositories that can be used to easily provide a consistent experience across multiple systems. At the time of writing, the version in the repositories is version 4.2.6. This will not be the latest version, but it should be quite stable, and should be sufficient for quick experimentation with the language.

This tutorial picked the Node Version Manager (nvm) based method, because it is much more flexible.

See below for the step by step instructions. (Check out the reading list below if you need the install instructions for other methods listed above.)

Step 0: (Before we get started) Remove old Node package to avoid conflicts

Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T), and type the following command.

$dpkg--get-selections|grep node
# If it says install in the right column, Node is on your system:#ax25-node install#node install

Step 1: Install prerequisite packages

We’ll need to get the software packages from our Ubuntu repositories that will allow us to build source packages. The nvm script will leverage these tools to build the necessary components.

First, we need to make sure we have a C++ compiler. Open a terminal window (Ctrl + Alt + T) and install the build-essential and libssl-dev packages. By default, Ubuntu does not come with these tools — but they can be installed by the following commands.

Once the prerequisite packages are installed, we can install and update NVM(Node Version Manager) using cURL. (Note: to get the latest installation version link, on the page scroll down to “Install script”.)

$ nano install_nvm.sh
#Note that we DO NOT need to add anything in the opened nano text editor window. We just need to create the .sh file.
# Use Ctrl+O to save the file, and then hit Enter, and then Ctrl +X to close the file.

Run the script with bash (Note that run the following command in your terminal):

$ bash install_nvm.sh

It will install the software into a sub-directory under our home directory at ~/.nvm. It will also add some necessary lines to our ~/.profile file in order to use it.

To have access to the nvm functionality, we need to source the ~/.profile file so that our current session knows about the changes:

$ source ~/.profile

Now that we have nvm installed, we can install isolated Node.js versions.

Step 3: Install Node.js

The following command will tell us which versions of Node.js are available for us to install:

there are a quite a few ways to get up and running with Node.js on your Ubuntu 16.04 server. Your circumstances will dictate which of the above methods is the best idea for your circumstance. While the packaged version in Ubuntu’s repository is the easiest, the nvm method is definitely much more flexible.

This is a pretty good tutorial. It covers 4 Ways to Install Node.js on Ubuntu. There are several ways to do this, but The author of this post recommended Option 1: Node Version Manager (nvm). Here is the full list of options: